Don't Let Go
by HeyILikeAnime
Summary: AU What if one person altered the course of history? Everyone has that moment that changes their life, but why leave it at one? Relationships, fighting, and random updates.
1. Prologue

What this is: a fanfiction made to be an attempt at angst and romance. Starts sweet, ends sour. Kinda like a reverse warhead, or sour patch kid. I might just decide to put a bit of sugar at the end instead, so bear with me, I change. Note: characters will be OC, cause let's face it, it's a fanfiction based on an action anime that focuses on _mainly_ two guys.

Enjoy my mediocre disclaimer, which states I don't own the Naruto characters used in this story.

* * *

"…Sasuke…" 

Said person stopped dead in his tracks. Wearing a long sleeve shirt and baggy shorts, each with their own Uchiha fan stitched somewhere on the back, he was the epitome of Uchiha fashion, if he just didn't carry that teddy bear around. He looked back, seeing nothing but a forest. Our six-year-old Sasuke tilted his head lightly before shrugging his shoulders and walking off. But then the voice called his name again.

"_…Sasuke…"_

This time, even thought it was a whisper, he was sure he heard it. Turning around, he stared at the darkness for a while before walking slowly toward it. Warily, he called out, "Itachi, are you there?" Slowly, he approached the woods, just stopping before a bush that separated him from being in it himself. Waiting for the call, he never expected the hand that grabbed him from behind. Turning quickly and on a reflex, he didn't know he startled the other person until they both shouted identical screams.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"AHHHHHhhhhhh… wait a minute…"

Sasuke stopped screaming, knowing now that the person in front of him was hardly a threat. On the ground, probably due to his sudden turn, a pink haired girl stopped screaming long enough to breathe deeply, only to move from screaming to crying aloud at the top of her lungs. While holding his teddy bear to one of his ears and putting finger in the other, he noticed that she was covering her face with her bangs and she wore clothes that were excessively large. The oversized long-sleeved-shirt was her current choice of means of wiping her eyes and her pants were ripped on the knees; indicating falling, probably due to the dragging of the over-long-pant legs. Sasuke decided that he could observe more of the oddly dressed girl after he stopped her from crying herself hoarse. Getting onto his knees, he grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it. He was surprised to hear her immediately stop and look at him with a mild amount of fear. Feeling mildly guilty, he offered her a peace present: his teddy bear. Slowly, her hand reached it, only to quickly snatch it and pull it in closely so it hid what wasn't hidden under the long bangs into teddy dearest.

Several moments passed in an awkward silence while Sasuke contemplated what to do. He wasn't leaving without his bear; they went through a lot together. Sasuke simply sat on his knees in front of the girl who was still on her rear with her knees now drawn up and the bear tightly held in her arms, face still hidden by shadows. Sasuke was about to pick himself up when he heard a mumble come from the girl. "What?" Sasuke asked her. There was another moment of silence before the teddy moved and the girl's mouth was seen.

"…thank you."

Young Sasuke stopped thinking straight for a few moments before he was able to say anything back. "Oh, sorry… WAIT," suddenly remembering what she had actually said, he waved his hands wildly, trying to catch onto the words that were escaping him, "I mean, uhm, thank you, wait, you're welcome". Blushing slightly, he turned his eyes sideways, as if to avoid the gaze coming from behind the pink hair. Silent for a moment, the pink haired girl spoke with a slightly louder voice.

"Haruno Sakura."

Sasuke snapped out of his embarrassment and blinked a few times before he understood it's meaning. Smiling, he said "Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan." Looking up suddenly, a blushing Sakura looked at Sasuke get on his feet as he said, "I'm Uchiha Sasuke, and I'd like to help you get up". Reaching out his hand, he held back his own blush when she grabbed his hand and helped pull her up. Both slightly blushing, Sasuke thought he learned a very valuable lesson upon meeting Sakura. Turning his head away from her once more, he never saw it coming.

"ITAI!"

Rule #1: Always keep an eye on the girl.

Falling backwards into the bush, Sasuke looked at the object sitting in his chest and saw two beady eyes staring emptily into his own. "Et tu, Beary?" Getting out of the bush in the dark, Sasuke saw a shocked Sakura holding her hands to her mouth. For a few seconds, the bangs of her hair moved enough for him to see the green of her eyes wide open, before she turned quickly and ran. Pulling himself together, he called out to her "Wait!" but she had disappeared. Frowning slightly, he ran off in the direction that he saw her go off.

Not that he needed to. In those pants, she had actually tripped and when he had taken his sweet time getting out of the darkness, she was lying flat on the ground, feeling like she would die of embarrassment. Finding her and helping her up, Sasuke continued his merry day, completely forgetting the voice that had held him captive only moments before.

* * *

Omake

Orochimaru was walking around the woods when he saw Sasuke. 'Ah, an Uchiha, how lucky!' Quickly hiding in the trees, he called out to Sasuke.

"…Sasuke..."

Seeing the little boy turn and then tilt his head made Orochimaru lick his lips. Yay pedophilia. But alas, Sasuke turned around and started to go away. Desperate, Orochimaru whispered, "_…Sasuke…_"

Sasuke turned again, and this time started to walk closer. Orochimaru slowly moved and was about to jump out and grab Sasuke when he heard it.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Fearful of being caught by the Anbu, Orochimaru cursed people who could scream like little girls as he started to run out of Konoha. Looking back, he thought, 'Sasuke, you will be mine!' In retrospect, that was a bad idea, because he ran into a tree while looking backward.

* * *

Just got back into this. Don't expect me to finish my other ones unless you're willing to suffer extreme delays in this story. If this doesn't end in a oneshot, you can expect this to be updated next week. Peace out. Reviews in plz.  



	2. Chapter 1

. Hello? Anybody there? Guess a good summary does matter. I'll try to change it later when the plot thickens. As for now, I'm just gonna write until I run out of ideas. Maybe if I write enough, my muses may come back.

Disclaimer says: I don't own Naruto characters anymore then you do. Unless you're Masashi Kishimoto, then I don't own Naruto anymore then your fans do.

A few years had passed since then. Sakura looked in a mirror while combing her hair, remembering that moment where she had met Sasuke. It was because of that incident that she wasn't one of the many girls who fawned over Sasuke in the "Sasuke Uchiha Fan Club". She smiled lightly, remembering how she had been introduced to the president of said club.

* * *

"_WHAAAT!? You and Sasuke are DATING!?"_

_Sakura and Sasuke looked up from their ramen to see a blond girl pointing at them. In her shock, she had dropped a basket of flowers that she quickly forgot as she ran inside to confirm what her eyes were seeing. Not that it was hard to confirm. No one else in the village had pink hair or had the Uchiha sign on his back. Ino held wide eyes and would have caused a scene had Sakura and Sasuke had not said simultaneously,_

"_No."_

_Turning their gaze back to their food, Sakura and Sasuke continued eating as Yamanaka Ino simply gawked with wide eyes. Shaking her head, she cleared her head of calling everyone she knew and simply sat right next to Sasuke, much to his discomfort. Wanting some info, she started on Pinky. "So what are you to Sasuke, Sakura?"_

"_She's a friend." Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who had said that, because Sakura had noodles in her mouth while Ino looked at Sasuke like he grew another head. Was Sasuke, the pokerfaced enigma everyone seemed to know off, have a hidden…_

"_Yamanaka Ino-san, no?" Sakura asked, having finished eating. "It's nice seeing you here. Usually you're so occupied with that club, uhm…"_

"_The Uchiha Sasuke Fan Club! Oh, it's awesome, we all talk, plot plans against the 'Anti-Sasuke Club' made by those idiots, gossip, root through his …" stopping herself of incriminating herself, she remembered that said idol was staring out of the corner of his eye at her, tearing them from his noodles that were hanging from his mouth. Turning a shade of red, she quickly stood up and rubbed the back of her head laughed loudly. "Well, look at the time, it's time for the president to get a move on. Bye now!" And in a flash she ran, only slowing down slowly to pick up the basket that had previously been forgotten. Slowly, Sasuke finished his noodles and looked at Sakura, who only smiled._

"_Told you it wasn't raccoons."_

Stopping her daydream, she put down the comb and put on her ribbon to bind her hair. Long pink hair that went down the back of her red dress. Making sure that the kunai and shuriken holster had enough for the day, she jumped out the window and started running lightly down the street. 'It's almost time!' she thought as she ran towards a district commonly filled with female stalkers. Unbeknownst to her, she had a few stalkers as well.

o-o-o-o

Naruto leaned against a wooden fence, looking slightly dejected. His everyday clothes of orange jumpsuit and pants didn't make him look any happier. Pulling off petals of a flower, he whispered, "she knows me, she knows of me, I'll be happy, I'll be sad, we'll be friends, we'll…" looking at the last petal, he frowned at it and threw the flower in the wind. Sadly, he pushed himself off the fence and was about to go on his way when all of a sudden…

"Move it!" Sakura shouted. Slightly taken by surprise, he saw a flash of pink run straight at him before spinning to go around him. In a brief moment of time, he saw her, green eyes focused on his eyes as she passed him. A smile was plastered on her face, even though she was slightly winded. The wind swept her hair back, brushing his face lightly as she passed him. For a moment, his sense of smell told him of the scent of cherry blossoms, but it faded as she ran past. Following her with his eyes, he heard her shout, "Sorry, Naruto!" before turning a corner and going out of sight. Sighing slightly, he picked up a pink paint can and threw the remainder onto the fence. Walking back a bit, he nodded and left it as it was, with the message, "Da-…ne, Sakura!"

Done with feeling pity, he looked towards the roof to see a green blur. 'Looks like Fuzzy fully recovered. I almost missed him… not his suit though.' Sighing, he gave chase to the green beast of Konoha. Just another day.

o-o-o-o

Sakura turned on a dime to the back alleys of Konoha. No way was she giving any of the USFC a hint on when Sasuke really went out of the house. Jumping a fence, she landed in his backyard. A rather large plat holding a mansion greeted her sight. Moving quickly, she ran straight towards the house. A running leap to the second floor window, she opened it and was about to go inside when a hand shout out from the dark.

"EEP!" she cried, and before she fell backwards, it latched on to hand and helped her regain balance. From out of the dark came Sasuke, dressed in his blue shirt and white shorts. Smirking slightly, he looked at her glare and said, "I'm awake, let's go". Smirking slightly, he leapt down and led the way to school, the sun barely rising in the east.

Rock Lee watched from the top of the rooftops, looking down as Sasuke and Sakura ran to school. In truth, he was only looking at Sakura, and Sasuke was just in the way. Lee simply looked dreamily at his crush. "Ah, Sakura-chan, if only you knew how I feel about you, would you stop following Sasuke-san and be my girl?"

"How about introducing yourself to her before you try and date her?" Naruto said from behind him. Lee merely sighed at hearing Naruto's logic. It was true, he should start at acquaintances then move up to boyfriend, but he didn't feel it was the right time. Constantly training, he never really had more then half and hour of leisure at a time. He knew that unless she liked sparring, they weren't going to spend any time together. 'Besides, she always with that Uchiha Sasuke.' he thought. The closest thing to an evil thought came to his mind. 'I wish he was ugly.'

"So Fuzzy, you ready?" Naruto stretched out his arms out, as if he was sore. "Aren't you being a little careless, Naruto-san?" Lee asked, keeping his eyes on the ground below. Naruto grinned. "It's not like you're taking off your…" In a flash, Lee spun around, already aiming a backhand at Naruto head. Ducking on instinct, Naruto's body didn't react to in time to avoid the sweep and he fell backwards. Looking up, he saw the closest thing to Lee smirking. This was just Lee grinning his 1000-watt smile like a maniac.

"I see you increased the weight too."

o-o-o-o

Arriving at school, Sasuke and Sakura proceeded to the training area. In truth, though they had their own area for training, the school had disposable kunai, shuriken, and training dummies that they could use. Besides, no one else went to school that early, so Sasuke was generally safe until the second girl walked in.

The first one right now was learning his Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu. Having already learned the first of many Katon jutsus, Sakura was now working on her second. Looking at various dummies with burns on them, she made seals and was about to blow when she jumped away from a kunai aimed at her legs. Sasuke landed where she previously was and threw shuriken at her fleeing form. Ducking underneath them, she blew many small fireballs that were quickly swallowed by a larger fireball blown back by Sasuke.

The name of the game was basically escort styled cat and mouse. Someone pretended that the dummy was a client and the other was an enemy ninja trying to kill said client. Alongside building up skills for missions, it allowed Sakura to practice jutsus she was working with and provide Sasuke an opportunity to test his abilities. Sakura had come up with it about a week after he broke out of his …

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" In his train of thought, he forgot about the fight and saw Sakura send flames right at the dummy he was protecting. Now embedded with flaming shuriken, Sasuke sighed as Sakura smirked at him. Not everyday did she manage to even skin the dummy with him protecting it. He quickly grabbed a bucket of water and poured it on the dummy. Seeing steam rise from the shuriken, he decided against pulling it out and just left it as it was. Walking towards Sakura, who was now sitting on the floor in a sweat, he offered her a hand like he had done before.

"Let's clean up."

o-o-o-o

Arriving in class, Sasuke and Sakura simply walked to their seats and watched the others interact. Doggy, a.k.a. Inuzaka Kiba, was poking the dobe, a.k.a. Uzumaki Naruto, who was sleeping. Sasuke noted that his clothes had lots of dirt and rips on it, as if he had been sliding very fast in his clothes. Quickly throwing away that piece of useless information, he saw sleeping next to Naruto was Nara Shikamaru. Next to said narcoleptic was the person who was always eating, Chomper, a.k.a. Akimichi Chouji. After a near life-or-death experience, Sasuke decided not to call him Fatso. Talking loudly, Mental, a.k.a. Yamanaka Ino was discussing a piece of gossip with someone who couldn't care less, but was too nice to say so Hyuga Hinata. Having been separated from USFC members, she attached onto the only other female companion she deemed worthy of talking to. And in their corner of the room, the person he knew least about despite sitting next to his entire ninja academy life, Aburame Shino. Sasuke decided the only people who needed nicknames were people he didn't hate. That was, besides Pink.

"Sasuke-kun, today's the big test, no?" Sakura was excited. It was the day they grew older, the day they would manifest their dreams, the day they were to become ninja. Sasuke nodded, the only sign that showed the anticipation he had at that moment. He was beyond confident that he would make genin, but he was wondering why Iruka-sensei was taking so long…

Speak of the devil, here he came. Iruka walked slowly into class, and for once, everyone was silent. The usual chatter died away, and Iruka looked calmly at everyone. Shikamaru raised his head from his false slumber, and Naruto simply sat straight up, eyes indicating he had been awake the whole time. Glaring lightly at Kiba, he threw a light punch at Kiba. Simply chuckling, Kiba went to his seat while mockingly rubbing his arm. Didn't stop it from hurting though.

"We'll now start the final exam. When your name is called, you will go into the next room and be required to perform a technique. Based on your performance, you will either pass or fail. First, Aburame Shino." Said person stood from his seat and went out of the door with Iruka. Chatting immediately followed. "What'll we do?" "Will it be weapon testing?" "What if they make us fight each other?" All that stopped when Iruka came back in and called the next student.

Slowly, people dwindled out. Soon, Sasuke was in a room with Iruka and Mizuki. Iruka started, "Okay, let's see you make one bunshin. Make it as perfect as you can." Nodding, Sasuke made one bunshin of himself, replicating it down to the dirt smudges on his sandals. Smiling, Iruka wrote something on his paper. Mizuki then said, "Let's see you henge into someone, anyone." Looking at Mizuki, Sasuke immediately changed into said chunnin, who was startled, but quickly regained composure. The bunshin remained, just folding its arms as if it were the real thing. Iruka made another motion with his arm and then said, "Now, take a shuriken from the table behind you and throw it so it hit's your bunshin in the hand. Nodding, the Mizuki look-alike walked over to the table, quickly grabbed a shuriken, and hurled it at the bunshin. Not even taking aim, the bunshin simply raised the hand to intercept, causing the shuriken to go straight through the hand of the jutsu. Iruka smiled, and Mizuki said, "Good job. Proceed to take one of the headbands on the table." Sasuke smirked, dispelling his henge and grabbed a forehead protector before running off.

Going to the front of the school, Sasuke noted that families were already gathering to congratulate the new genin or consolidate those who failed. Walking around the people, he saw Sakura happily jump in her mothers arms. Tied where her ribbon was supposed to be was a new Konoha head guard. Not wanting to interrupt her time, as well as being slightly jealous of everyone, he proceeded to the back of the school, where to his surprise was the dobe, all alone. Sasuke watched as Naruto put his fingers into a seal and shouted, "Bunshin no Jutsu!" Immediately, ten bunshin replicated, all looking kinda like Naruto. Naruto simply looked at each one and grabbed a bunch of rocks, hurling them through each and everyone, causing them to dispel.

"You know, you're supposed to make the bunshins perfect." Naruto quickly glared at the No. 1 rookie, who simple rolled his eyes at the nonverbal threat. "You're making them left handed. Not to mention that you're not wearing your goggles today" Naruto quirked an eyebrow, then quickly figured it out. "ARGH!" Quickly, he punched the ground and caused quite a few cracks in it. Eyeballing this display of strength, Sasuke just continued. "If that was all, you could just retake…"

"Shut up!" Sasuke did so at the outburst, unprepared for the blond ninja's outburst. "Just cause it's so easy for the great Sasuke doesn't mean common people will grasp it like that!" Naruto held back tears. The exam didn't go the way he planned it.

"_Naruto, please make five perfect bunshins. Do this and you'll pass the test." Naruto gulped. Bunshins were easy for him, but control was a different story. He knew how much was needed for one, but to do an exact large number? Holding it down, Naruto took a guess and just did it. "Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

_In the classroom, over twenty bunshin appeared. Gawking at the display of chakra, Iruka quickly noted that none of the bunshins were perfect compared to the real deal. "I'm sorry Naruto, but you don't meet the requirements. All bunshins immediately dispelled and Naruto was left on the floor, open-mouthed. Gritting his teeth, he didn't give Mizuki a chance to put up his say before he dashed out of the room at a speed they didn't think a genin was possible of running._

Naruto sat on the swing, his fist already fully healed despite having blood dripping from his knuckles prior. Sasuke sat on the swing next to his, simply giving him time to think fully. It was a few awkward moments for Sasuke before Naruto spoke up. "Thanks for the tip." Sasuke turned his head as Naruto stood up from the swing. Following Naruto's pained gaze at the pair of people, he heard conversation that made little sense. "…only one who failed." "Serves him right." "If he becomes a ninja, it'll only cause more trouble." It was almost enough for Sasuke to speak out for Naruto, but looking at Naruto made him realize he couldn't. Naruto was absorbing the sounds like they were everyday occurrences, and simply walked off towards the school, head down. Sasuke didn't follow, since that weird teacher Mizuki looked like he was going to comfort Naruto himself.

o-o-o-o

Naruto moved with stealth through the night. Mizuki had said Naruto could have his forehead protector if he learned from one scroll that would teach a technique that guaranteed a person's graduation. It didn't matter if no one wanted him to graduate, if this technique was a 100 guarantee, then he was taking the shot! Quickly running into the storage room, he found said scroll and picked it up, observing it carefully. Noticing it was the old man's, Naruto quickly scribbled "Thanks, oyaji." before running into the night. Only seconds later did the old man move into the room to see a missing scroll and marker vandalism on his pedestal.

o-o-o-o

Sasuke walked in the park, minding his own business. It didn't matter to him that people were jumping around, trying to find Naruto. There were better things to do then care. Still, it didn't stop him from lending a hand to Naruto who was carrying a bloody Iruka-sensei and dragging a badly beaten-into-unconsciousness Mizuki.

"Mind telling me what happened?" Sasuke asked as they walked, carrying Iruka since Naruto seemed intent on dragging Mizuki as roughly as possible. Shrugging, Naruto said, "Nothing really. I got tricked by Mizuki, Iruka-sensei saved me, I beat the snot out of the traitor. Got some training in between some of that." Iruka laughed, despite his injuries, at the way Naruto dismissed everything that had happened. All of a sudden, a ninja popped in front the two boys, one Sasuke recognized as a random chunnin.

"Damn brat, what did you do to Iruka and Mizuki!" The chunnin quickly aimed a backhand at Naruto's face, which he would have ignored had not Sasuke dropped Mizuki and quickly step between them and block the chunnin's hand in a tight grip. Slightly shocked at the speed of the new genin, enough time passed for them to hear an old voice.

"That's enough. Naruto didn't do anything wrong." Turning their gaze, they saw the Third walking in his robes, with more ninja behind him. Smiling lightly at Naruto, the Third asked, "Did you get enough training?" Smiling, Naruto nodded and handed back the scroll in his hand not occupied. Turning his attention to the injured teachers, the Hokage said, "Take Iruka to the infirmary, and take Mizuki to interrogation." In a blink of the eye, both teachers were gone. The Hokage turned back, but before he left, he said, "Congratulations on becoming a genin, Naruto." Naruto looked at the old man and grinned a fox grin

o-o-o-o

"Neh, Sasuke, what happened next?" Sakura was asking Sasuke as they walked towards school. They were to be assigned in teams today, and she didn't really care who else would be on their team. So surprise, surprise when they entered the class and moved away from their usual spot and approached the normally sleeping blond. "Mind if we sit here?" Naruto decided yes on two things, or rather, two people. Noticing Sakura barely saw him, he decided it would not be a good time to show affection for someone who was his rival in love. Bad enough Lee knew, he didn't want Sasuke to fight for it as well.

Behind him, two white eyes watched his bright yellow hair while keeping nervously shifting her fingers. 'Naruto-kun…' the beholder thought.

* * *

…this chapter is slow, cause I really don't like the first episodes of Naruto. They always have to be so predictable, so I'm probably gonna post this chapter with another to make reading a little easier. I just wanted to introduce Lee and Naruto as friends earlier, and Sasuke as not disconnected from Sakura … yet.

review after you read my next chapter, or don't and just review. pretty plz.


	3. Chapter 2

So will this chapter be as boring as the first? Let's find out, as we go on to chapter 2 with a short disclaimer.

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I'm not Masashi Kishimoto. Therefore, I don't own Naruto.

What cold logic!

* * *

Iruka began by smiling at all the students. To a certain blond, he smiled a little brighter, despite the blond not looking straight at him and more at a pink haired girl talking to Sasuke. Having waited long enough for everyone's attention, he began. "Starting today, you're all officially ninja, but you're all still new genin. It's only going to get harder from here. You'll all be in a group of three, where you will be accomplishing missions under a Jounin teacher." At hearing this, people opened their ears. Sasuke already had two people in mind, while a number of girls had their eyes on him. Naruto kept his gaze on the people beside him, as a pair of white eyes locked their gaze at his bright yellow hair. Iruka continued, "We've arranged the groups such that the overall abilities are equivalent. I will now announce the teams. First group!"

So on and so forth occurred, until Iruka reached lucky number seven. "The seventh group will consist of Uzumaki Naruto," with this, said person turned his attention towards his sensei, "Haruno Sakura," said girl widened her eyes and looked at Iruka intently, wondering if that one spot was, "and Uchiha Sasuke." Smirking, the Uchiha smiled and nodded at Sakura, who smiled and nodded back. Turning his head, he saw Naruto look at him, and an unspoken conversation went between them.

"Next, team number eight, Hyuga Hinata," said heiress, barely recovering from not being teamed with her idol, looked as shocked as she always had after hearing her name, "Inuzaka Kiba," a dog's best friend simply smiled, showing his fangs as he grinned, "and Aburame Shino." The host made no indication he heard, other then the noise of him grunting acceptance."

The tenth team, not too surprising seeing their parents planned it out, consisted of Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji. Ino, upon hearing this, started cursing aloud at her father for subjugating her to torture, while Shikamaru and Choji simply nodded at each other. Having said the final team, Iruka said, "Today would be a good day to get to know your teammates. Tomorrow, you'll be meeting with your jounin sensei here." Iruka grinned, his little students growing up so fast. "I wish you the best of look." From there, he used shushin to poof away.

Knowing his team, Sasuke stood up, Sakura following in suit. Walking out, he turned his head to Sakura. "We should probably find out information about our sensei first. Let's …" Stopping as his body ran into somebody, he turned his head back towards where he was walking to see Naruto standing, as if he had been waiting for the Uchiha.

"Let's eat." Sasuke, unperturbed by Naruto's show of speed and will, simply followed Naruto to a familiar ramen stand quietly. Sakura, however, was not as quiet.

o-o-o-o

"So let me get this straight, you're wearing weights, and they help you increase in speed?" Sakura asked, already done with her bowl of udon, as Naruto downed his fifth bowl of pork ramen. Sasuke just sat there, listening to Sakura's questions and looking at Naruto's response. So far, all Sakura had asked were yes and no questions, which Naruto could simply nod or shake his head to while eating. Naruto nodded his head, and Sakura huffed and frowned. "That doesn't make any sense! Just having a few weights on you couldn't make you go faster." Sasuke silently agreed, simply drinking his kora (1).

Finishing his lunch, Naruto put his hand in his sleeve and pulled out a piece of metal. Holding it out to Sakura in his hand, she took it from him and he simply let go of the metal.

Instantly, Sakura's entire frame dropped and she struggled to stay in her stool as she held onto the metal piece. 'It's a lot heavier then it looks!' she thought as it took all her strength to lay it on the counter and not crush her fingers at the same time. Sasuke simply stared at the brick before poking it with his wooden chopstick hard. The chopstick broke before the metal moved. "I keep about eight of those on each of my limbs at a time." Sasuke glared at Naruto, who was supposedly the dobe, but was training harder then he was. Turning his attention to Naruto, who picked the metal piece easily as one would pick up a bar of soap, he tucked it back into his sleeve.

"It's actually pretty light considering what my friend does. We kinda have a competition between the two of us." Shocked at the idea of another somebody being stronger then he was, Sasuke decided to test the gap. "How fast can you go?" he asked, trying to hold back the jealousy in his voice. Naruto looked at his usually silent teammate and merely looked out onto the street. Following his gaze, Sasuke saw a vendor, selling small trinkets, most of which related to Konoha in some way. The vendor sneezed slightly, and Sasuke didn't see anything else funny with him. Sasuke looked at Naruto, wondering why he had done such a thing, before he saw what on the stool next to Naruto.

Eight weighted bars were on the chair, which Naruto had removed from his persona in the time Sasuke was looking at the vendor. Naruto then held out his hand to Sakura, who looked at what he was giving her. "Kawaii!" she said as she took it and showed it to Sasuke. "Neh, I like Naruto already, Sasuke!" Sasuke simply saw the small trinket that looked like a frog and looked back on the stand. In place of one of the trinkets on the vendor's stand was a bill with some coins on top. Sasuke stared at the thing he couldn't have missed as Sakura's voice of joy became null to him. Rage built up as the one who needed his help the night before seemed to be beyond his perception. 'There's no way I could have done what he did in the time it took the vendor to sneeze. He's not like the others.'

o-o-o-o

Hinata looked out to the distance. Beside her, Kiba and Akamaru were playing Shino in checkers. Seeing as Kiba and Akamaru didn't like chess, Shino decided a simpler board game would be easier. Currently, Shino was winning nine pieces to two.

"ARGHHH!!! Dang it Shino, stop cheating!" Kiba shouted. Atop his head, Akamaru barked in agreement. Shino barely raised an eyebrow as he double jumped with one of his kings to end the game. Turning his attention to the Hyuga heiress, he decided he would establish a little order.

"Hinata." slightly shocked, Hinata tore her gaze away from the window and answered, "H-hai!?" Noticing the stutter, Shino continued, "We should get to know each other and each other's abilities. Therefore, when the time comes, we will be able to rely on each other for support when necessary in situations when they occur." There had been no 'if's in his statement. It was law and people obeyed.

o-o-o-o

"Neh, where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Outwardly, Naruto showed signs of indifference as he shrugged off her question. Inwardly, he was nervous beyond heck. 'The one time I get her attention when Sasuke's not around and I haven't prepared for it!' To Naruto, this was the chance he had been waiting for.

"_Okay class, we're going to work on first aid." Iruka addressed his new class with expertise. Now people, those who had spars go to one of the designated 'medics' and get treated." A younger Naruto, being one of the many kids who sparred, simply lied on the ground and refused to be treated. They'd be gone the day after, so what was the point?" Despite this, one person decided she'd treat the one who was a little angsty boy. Not that she knew._

"_Konnichiwa! I'll be your medic today!" A pink haired girl knelled next to the boy, who simply stared at her without moving. Seeing all he wanted to see, he simply said, "Eh." and looked at the clouds. Slightly annoyed, she pulled on his arms until he sat up. Starting her job on his arms, Naruto looked at her sadly. "Why are you even bothering to do that? All I have are a few cuts and bruises, nothing that won't go away in a day." Looking at Naruto, she huffed and shut her first aid kit. 'There, I've pissed her off. Now she'll go away and leave…' in an instant, her fist collided with the top of his head, making a bump appear there. Naruto, speechless. quickly sat up and grabbed onto the top of his head in pain and looked up at his medic. "Hey, you're supposed to be helping, not hurting!"_

_Smiling, she reopened her kit and began to disinfect his few cuts. Still nursing his head, he asked her, "What good did that punch do?" Smiling, she pulled out the tape. "Well, if you weren't wounded enough to be treated, I was doing you a favor by wounding you enough to be treated by me!" Quick as a flash, she bandaged his entire head with all of the tape she had. Quickly giggling at her new mummy head, she gave him a mirror as she stood up. Shocked at his new appearance, Naruto turned to glare at Sakura, but stopped short of glaring. The sun and wind made her silhouette a thing to be admired, and Naruto then saw her in a different light then those he saw before. Looking at Naruto, she tilted her head lightly._

"_Now you owe me, kay?"_

Naruto looked back at his crush, who was now pondering where her best friend was. There wasn't a moment that Naruto knew of that the two friends had been separated during daylight. If he could just say something now, then he could… then they could…

"Ah, Sasuke!" Naruto cursed the opportunity that had slipped his fingers, a dark hue hanging over his features. Sasuke was walking towards them, albeit a lot slower then he usually did. Naruto noticed right away that there was something in the Uchiha's sleeves as well as his socks. "Sasuke, what the heck is in your socks?" Sakura asked, completely oblivious to the jealousy that Sasuke had towards Naruto.

Naruto, however, was not so dense. He noted that Sasuke had also placed weights across his body, and it looked like he was suffering from a fever with all the sweat coming off him. Deciding against his better judgment, Naruto quickly rushed a burdened Sasuke and used a kunai to cut at the straps on Sasuke's shoulders used to hold up the weight. Before he could move onto the arms, Sasuke pushed himself away from Naruto, taking up a weak defense stance. "Naruto! What was that for?" Sakura asked.

"Sasuke is using too much weight for the beginning of a weighted training program. If he uses that now, there's no way he'll be able to stand up tomorrow morning, let alone meet with our next teacher. If you're going to train, train properly." To that, Sasuke scoffed. "I'm not like you. I can go a bit further then some dobe who would fail at…"

Sakura quickly pushed him facedown and sat on him. Unable to do anything on his stomach, he vainly struggled, yelling, "Get off me, Sakura."

"No!" Naruto looked as Sakura looked sternly at Sasuke. "If you can't even push me off yourself, then you know that you're doing too much." Sasuke groaned, the weight making it impossible to push off the ground. "Geez Sakura, I could get up if you weren't so …" Quick as a flash, her fist collided with that back of his head, mainly stunning him before he could finish his sentence. "Are you saying I'm FAT!?" she exclaimed. Naruto looked at the scene with a mild amount of amusement. Sasuke grumbled out a very short, "No, sorry." Content, she continued. "If you can't push me, how in the world do you expect me to life those weighs? How am I supposed get better with you if you train that much harder?" Sasuke then remembered their promise, and cursed himself inwardly. Sakura now stood up and stomped her foot onto Sasuke's back, who felt the blow like a hammer to his spine. Naruto twitched his eyebrow a little. His crush wasn't exactly sane as he remembered her.

"Fine." Sasuke said into the ground. Naruto turned his attention to Sasuke, who now looked up from his position and bore his gaze into Naruto's eyes. "Tell me what weight me and Sakura should start on." Naruto saw the light in his eyes, as if he was no longer possessed by the demon that told him to do such a stupid thing in the first place. Sighing, he moved towards Sasuke to help him take off the weights. 'This is going to be a fun team. Still, you know what they say:

Rule #2: Always better a friend then an enemy.'

"First," Naruto said, "I'd better go talk to Lee-san about some training weights. I'm pretty sure he'll give them no problem." Sasuke simply nodded, while Sakura asked, "Who's that, and why bother doing that, Naruto?" Naruto simply looked at her. 'Besides the fact that Fuzzy will do anything for you unconditionally?' He smiled. "No reason in particular. No reason at all."

Elsewhere, the shouts of an enigmatic person counting to a thousand was interrupted by a sudden sneeze.  
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I'm not completely there yet, it's going to be a while before it starts moving. Always wanted to change the bell test. Let's see how everyone likes the new one…

Please review. It gets the creative juices flowing. You know, since the creative part of the brain is associated with the 'receiving-reviews' part.


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